Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

THE DOWNFALL OF EGYPT AND --

During the Exodus, when Moses and the Israelites crossed the Gulf of Aqaba and entered the land of Midian, they were met, at a place called Rephidim, by an army of Amalekites. The Bible recounts the events that took place:

Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands be came heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. -- Exodus 17:8-13, NKJV.

Just who were these Amalekites, and where did they come from? And what was to be their ultimate place in history?

The Bible dictionary, Insight on the Scriptures, states that Amalek was a "son of Esau's first born Eliphaz, by his concubine Timna. (Ge. 36:12, 16) Amalek, a grandson of Esau, was one of the sheiks of Edom. (Ge. 36:15, 16) Amalek's name also designated his tribal descendants. -- De. 25:17; Jg. 7:12; 1 Sa. 15:2" (Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. 1988. p.86.)

While it is true Amalek's name designated his tribal descendants, there is a belief that Amalek dates back BEYOND the time of Esau; and this is backed up by the account of Chedorlaomer and the kings in Genesis 14:

In the fourteenth year Chadorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness.

Then they turned back and carne to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and ATTACKED ALL THE COUNTRIES OF THE AMALEKITES, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar. -- Verses 5-7.

When Balaam "took up his oracle" and "looked on AMALEK" (Numbers 24:1-2, 20) he said: "AMALEK WAS THE FIRST AMONG NATIONS, but shall be last until be perishes." When the children of Israel met the Amalekites at Rephidim, the Amalekites were already "first among the nations" of Arabia, and were destined to go on to even GREATER prominence.

The Islamic historians consider Amalek to be one of the MOST ANCIENT of the Arab tribes. Abulfeda, an Arab scholar of the thirteenth century, wrote:

Shem [son of Noah] has several sons, among them Laud, to whom was born Pharis, Djordjan, Tasm, and AMALEK....

According to Immanuel Velikovsky:

The Amalekites RULED IN MECCA and from their CENTRAL POSITION on the great peninsula [of Arabia] DOMINATED other Arabian tribes. All parts of Arabia Felix, Arabia Petraea, and Arabia Deserta alike were within reach of their bows. -- Ages in Chaos, Doubleday & Company, Inc. Garden City, N.Y. 1952. P.61.

Sir Richard F. Burton, famous British explorer and author of the nineteenth century, noted the following in his book Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah:

A tribe called Aulad Sam bin Nuh (the children of Shem), or Amalikah and Amalik, from their ancestor Amlak bin Arfakhshad bin Sam bin Nuh, was inspired with a knowledge of the Arabic tongue: it SETTLED AT AL-MADINAH [Medina], and was the first to cultivate the ground and to PLANT PALM-TREES. In course of time these people extended over the whole tract BETWEEN THE SEAS OF AL-HIJAZ (THE GULF OF AQABAH) AND AL-OMAN, (NORTH-WESTERN PART OF THE INDIAN OCEAN), and they became the PROGENITORS of the Jababirah (tyrants or "giants") of Syria, as well as the FARAINAH (PHARAOHS) OF EGYPT....The last king of the Amalik, "Arkam bin al-Arkam," was, according to most authors, slain by an army of the children of Israel sent by Moses after the Exodus, with orders thoroughly to purge Meccah and al-Madinah of their Infidel inhabitants. -- Vol.I, p.343.

When the land of Egypt was convulsed by the plagues of God, similar judgments fell upon neighboring civilizations -- including that of Arabia. Masudi, an Arab historian who died about 956 A.D., relates the tradition of a tremendous CATASTROPHE that struck the Amalekites, and tells of "swift clouds, ants and other signs of the LORD'S RAGE," when MANY PERISHED IN MECCA. Evidently, a turbulent torrent of water overwhelmed the land of Djohainah; and the WHOLE POPULATION drowned in a single night.

The scene of this catastrophe is known by the name of "Idam" (FURY); and Omeyah, son of Abu-Salt of the tribe of Takif, alluded to this event in the following verse: "In the days of yore, the Djorhomites settled in Tehama, and a VIOLENT FLOOD carried all of them away."

The Amalekites were PUT TO FLIGHT by these plagues that fell upon them IN ARABIA; and in their escape they followed swift clouds. Meanwhile, MECCA WAS DESTROYED IN A SINGLE NIGHT amidst a terrible noise; and THE LAND BECAME A DESERT. Historian Masudi relates this disaster:

From el-Hadjoum up to Safa ALL BECAME DESERT; in MECCA the nights are silent, no voice of pleasant talk. WE DWELT THERE, but in a most tumultuous night in the most terrible of devastations WE WERE DESTROYED.

Velikovsky picks up the story flow:

In tumult and disorder, fleeing the ominous signs and plagues and driving their herds of animals infuriated by EARTHQUAKES and evil portents, THE FUGITIVE BANDS OF AMALEKITES REACHED THE SHORES OF THE RED SEA....

This succession of phenomena helps us to recognize that they occurred AT THE TIME OF THE ISRAELITES' ESCAPE FROM EGYPT, also visited by plagues. They [the Israelites] also witnessed the destructive flood at the sea of passage, at Pi-ha-khiroth, SHORTLY BEFORE THEY MET THE AMALEKITES. -- Ages in Chaos, P.62.

The Israelites met the fleeing Amalekites FOR THE FIRST TIME a few days after they had crossed the Gulf of Aqaba into the land of Midian.

Notice, now, what happened to the Amalekites AFTER being defeated by the Israelites at Rephidim:

They left Arabia after a SERIES OF PLAGUES, and immediately after a VIOLENT EARTHQUAKE. Many of them perished during the migration in a SUDDEN FLOOD that swept the land of Arabia. They sighted the ISRAELITES coming out of Egypt, which was laid in ruins by a GREAT CATASTROPHE. In this catastrophe the water in the river turned red as blood, THE EARTH SHOOK, THE SEA ROSE in a sudden tidal wave. THE INVADERS FROM ARABIA OCCUPIED THE SOUTH OF PALESTINE....(ibid., p 91)

The Arab historian Masudi picks up the story:

When this conqueror [El-Welid, son of Douma] CAME TO SYRIA [and southern Palestine] HE HEARD RUMORS ABOUT EGYPT. He sent there one of his servants named Ouna, with a great host of warriors. El-Welid oppressed the inhabitants, seized their possessions and drew forth all the treasures he could find.

Elsewhere in his work, Masudi states: "An Amalekite king, el-Welid, son of Douma, ARRIVED FROM SYRIA, INVADED EGYPT, CONQUERED IT, SEIZED THE THRONE AND OCCUPIED IT without opposition, his life long."

In another work of his Masudi gives a more detailed account of the conquest of el-Welid:

El-Welid, son of Douma, advanced at the head of a numerous army, with the intention to overrun diverse countries and to overthrow their sovereigns.

The end of this particular passage recalls the sentence in the Haggada: "Amalek...in his wantonness undertook to destroy the whole world."

These invaders from Arabia occupied Syria and the south of Palestine, and simultaneously moved toward Egypt. They conquered Egypt WITHOUT MEETING RESISTANCE. Velikovsky adds:

The Amalekite conquerors came from Arabia, but apparently they had Hamitic blood in their veins. They were a nation of herdsmen and roamed with their large herds from field to field....Their domination over many countries of the Near and Middle East endured, according to various reckonings, FOR ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED YEARS....(ibid., p.93).

The record of an EYEWITNESS to the invasion of Egypt has come down to us in the form of the Papyrus of Ipuwer. It is uncertain how this papyrus containing the words of Ipuwer was discovered. Evidently, its first owner (Anastasi) claimed it was found in "Memphis" or, more probably, in the neighborhood of the pyramids of Saqqara. The Museum of Leiden in the Netherlands purchased the papyrus in 1828, and it is now listed in their catalog as Leiden 344.

In 1909 a new translation of the text was published by Alan H. Gardiner, with the title: The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage from a Hieratic Papyrus in Leiden.

The author of the translation showed that the papyrus was HISTORICAL in nature, revealing that Egypt was in GREAT DISTRESS; the social system had become disrupted and violence stalked the land. INVADERS DESPOILED THE DEFENSELESS POPULATION, stripping the wealthy of everything they owned. Gardiner noted: "It is no merely local disturbance that is here described, but a GREAT AND OVERWHELMING NATIONAL DISASTER."

According to the experts, the "style" of the papyrus is in conformance with that of literary examples FROM THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

Let author Velikovsky set the scene:

There was no longer any ROYAL POWER in Egypt [following the Exodus and the death of the pharaoh in the Gulf of Aqaba]. In the following weeks the cities turned into scenes of looting. Justice ceased to function. The mob dug in the debris and in the public records, where contracts, notes and pledges, and deeds to real property were filed. The plunderers searched among the wreckage of the royal storehouses. -- ibid., p.37.

Notice, now, what the Papyrus Ipuwer says:

PAPYRUS 6:9: Forsooth, the laws of the judgment-hall are cast forth. Men walk upon [them] in the public places.

10:3: THE STOREHOUSE OF THE KING is in the common property of everyone.

The papyrus furnishes information as to what happened afterwards. The earth's crust repeatedly contracted in violent spasms ('years of noise'). The roads became impassable'dragged' and 'flooded' (Papyrus 12:11f.). The realm was depopulated, and Ipuwer bewails the 'lack of people.' The residence of the pharaoh was a heap of ruins. Governmental authority was completely shattered. 'Behold, the chiefs of the land flee' (8:14); 'Behold, no offices are in their (right) place, like a frightened herd without a herdsman' (9:2). The 'poor men' who ran away roamed the desert. Slaves WHO REMAINED in Egypt raised their heads. (Ages in Chaos, p.37).

Ipuwer says: "Forsooth, public offices are opened and their census-lists are taken away." (Papyrus 6:7).

At this point INVADERS approached Egypt out of the desert gloom. They crossed the EASTERN DEFENSES and entered the devastated land:

PAPYRUS 3:1: Forsooth, the Desert is throughout the land. The nomes are LAID WASTE. A FOREIGN TRIBE FROM ABROAD HAS COME TO EGYPT.

The ten plagues that reduced Egypt to rubble, and the death of the pharaoh and his troops in the Red Sea, was a SIGNAL to the Amalekites who had reached Syria from Arabia.

PAPYRUS 15:1: What has happened? -- through it is to cause the ASIATICS to know the condition of the land.

14:11: Men -- They have come to an end for themselves There are NONE FOUND to stand and protect themselves.

After being rendered defenseless by the catastrophes created by the plagues and the drowning of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, the Egyptians could not defend themselves. It is unclear whether "a million of people" in the next sentence is the number of those killed in the plagues or the number of the invaders:

PAPYRUS 12:6ff: Today fear -- more than a million of people. Not seen -- enemies -- enter into the temples -- weep.

These invaders were the AMU or the HYKSOS who ruled Egypt during the centuries separating the MIDDLE KINGDOM and the NEW KINGDOM.

Josephus, the first-century A.D. Jewish historian, records the words of Manetho who wrote several books on the history of Egypt:

There was a king of ours, whose name was Timaus. Under him it came to pass, I know not how, that God was AVERSE to us, and there came, after a surprising manner, men of ignoble birth OUT OF THE EASTERN PARTS, and had boldness enough to make an expedition into our country, and WITH EASE subdued it by force, yet WITHOUT HAZARDING A BATTLE WITH THEM. So when they had gotten those that governed us under their power, they afterwards burnt down our cities, and demolished the temples of the gods, and used all the inhabitants after a most barbarous manner: nay, some they slew, and led their children and their wives into slavery. At length they made one of themselves king, whose name was SALATlS....and as he found in the Saite Nomos [Seth-roite] a city very proper for his purpose, and which lay upon the Bubastic channel [of the Nile], but with regard to a certain theologic notion was called AVARIS [RAMESSES], this he REBUILT, and made very strong by the walls he built about it, and by a most numerous garrison of two hundred and forty thousand armed men whom he put into it to keep it....THIS WHOLE NATION WAS STYLED HYCSOS, that is, SHEPHERD-KINGS....BUT SOME SAY THAT THESE PEOPLE [THE HYKSOS] WERE ARABIANS...." These people, whom we have before named kings, and called shepherds also, and their descendants," as he [Manetho] says, "kept possession of Egypt 511 YEARS." -- Josephus, Against Apion, bk. 1, sec. 14.f.

An ancient tradition, which has been preserved by several Arabian historians of the Middle Ages, further proves the ARAB origin of Manetho's hated Hyksos kings. This tradition "tells us of a certain Sheddad (the name means 'a mighty man'), the son of Ad, who made an IRRUPTION INTO EGYPT, conquered the country, and extended his victorious campaign AS FAR AS THE STRAIGHTS OF GILBRALTA. He and his descendants, the FOUNDERS OF THE AMALEKITE DYNASTY, are said to have maintained themselves more than two hundred years in Lower Egypt, where they made the town of AVARIS their royal residence." (A History of Egypt Under the Pharaohs, by Henry Brugsch Bey. Vol. I. John Murray, London. 1881. P.266.)

Is the term "shepherd kings" found anywhere in the Bible? At first glance -- no; but the examination of an unusual phrase in Psalms 78 provides us with an interesting discovery!

The children of Israel left Egypt a few weeks, or perhaps only days before the invasion of the Hyksos They could not avoid meeting these Hyksos coming up from Arabia, and actually did meet them at Rephidim in Midian just before they reached the Mountain of God.

Were the Israelites at all aware that Egypt was about to undergo "another plague" -- that of the Hyksos domination -- when they sighted the Amalekite army (400,000 warriors according to Hebrew tradition) in the desert? Probably not. However, later, during the time of the Judges, the Israelites were constantly being attacked and harassed by the Amalekites, and must have surely known Egypt was under the control of the shepherd-kings and their cohorts.

Notice, now, Psalm 78:

When He [God] worked His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the field of Zoan, turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, that they could not drink. He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost. He also gave up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to fiery lightening. He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, BY SENDING ANGELS OF DESTRUCTION AMONG THEM. -- Verses 43-49.

This psalm shows that immediately after the ten plagues, God sent ANOTHER "PLAGUE" -- the "ANGELS OF DESTRUCTION (in some versions, EVIL ANGELS) -- AMONG THEM." What does this mean? Who or what were these "angels of destruction"? There is no plague in the book of Exodus carried out by "angels of destruction"; and there is no expression like this to be found anywhere else in the Bible. Is it possible the text could be CORRUPT? Notice what Immanuel Velikovsky discovered:

Sending of evil angels [some versions of the Bible, "angels of destruction") is (presumably) MISHLAKHAT MALAKHEI-ROIM. The ONLY DIFFERENCE in spelling is one silent letter, ALEPH, in the first case. It would thus seem that the second reading is the ORIGINAL.

The first reading is not only UNUSUAL HEBREW, but it is also CONTRARY to the grammatical structure of the language. If ROIM ("EVIL," plural) were used as an adjective here, the preceding word could not take a shortened form, ROIM must therefore be a noun. But if ROIM were a noun, it would be in the singular and not in the plural; and finally, the correct plural of "evil" is not roim, but RAOTH. "Evil angels" in CORRECT HEBREW would be MALAKHIM ROIM; "angels of evils" MALAKHEI RAOTH NOT ONLY THE SENSE BUT THE GRAMMATICAL FORM AS WELL SPEAKS FOR THE READING, "INVASION OF KING-SHEPHERDS." When the editor or copyist of the sentence could not find sense in "king-shepherds," he changed the words to "evil angels" without sufficient grammatical change. -- Ages in Chaos, pps.69-70.

Psalm 78:49 must therefore read:

He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble by sending an INVASION OF KING-SHEPHERDS among them.

An old Hebrew legend sheds light on this subject:

Amalek fetched FROM EGYPT the table of descent of the Jews [Israelites] ...these lists lay in the Egyptian archives. Amalek appeared before the Jewish [Israelite] camp, and calling the people by name, he invited them to leave the camp and come out to him. (Legends, III, by Ginzberg. P.56.)

According to Velikovsky: "This legend implies knowledge on the part of the Israelites of the fact that the AMALEKITES CAME TO EGYPT AND BECAME THE RULERS OF THE LAND." How else would they come into possession of the census lists in the Egyptian archives?

In the Papyrus Ipuwer we find:

PAPYRUS 6:7: Forsooth, public offices are opened and the census-lists are taken away. Serfs become lords of serfs [?].

It seems quite apparent that when the Amalekites conquered Egypt, they regarded themselves as the inheritors of the former Egyptian Empire -- including all its colonies; and when they came into conflict with the nation of Israel in following centuries, they may have argued that the Israelites had deserted their bondage in Egypt.

A monolith or stone was discovered at el-Arish -- half way between Egypt and Palestine. The inscription on the stone is of the Ptolemaic or Hellenistic age, but the events recorded are of a much earlier period, that of Amenemhet IV and his younger son-- and the time of the Exodus!

In the mutilated text, there are these lines:

The land is in great affliction. Evil fell on this earth....lt was a great upheaval in the RESIDENCE [palace of the pharaoh]....Nobody left the palace during NINE DAYS, and during these NINE DAYS OF UPHEAVAL there was such a tempest that NEITHER THE MEN NOR THE GODS COULD SEE THE FACES OF THEIR NEXT.

This sounds very much like the ninth plague in the book of Exodus: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand to ward heaven, that there may be DARKNESS over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.' So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was THICK DARKNESS in all the land of Egypt three days. THEY DID NOT SEE ONE ANOTHER; NOR DID ANYONE RISE FROM HIS PLACE for three days." (Exodus 10:21-23, NKJV)

This period of darkness and the tempest when nobody could see anything, and none could leave the palace, is further described on the el-Arish stone. "Evil fell upon this earth...a great disturbance in the residence."

In the midst of these upheavals of nature -- through the agency of God -- "HIS MAJESTY OF SHOU" assembled his hosts and ordered them to follow him to regions where, he promised, they would again see light: "We shall see our father Ra-Harakhti in the luminous region of Bakhit." (Ages in Chaos, p.40).

This inscription continues:

...his majesty of Shou went to battle against the COMPANIONS OF APOPI....Now when the majesty of Ra-Hannachis [Harakhti?] fought with the evildoers in this pool, THE PLACE OF THE WHIRLPOOL, the evildoers prevailed not over his majesty. His majesty leapt into the socalled PLACE OF THE WHIRLPOOL....

Apopi was the fierce god of darkness; and the pharaoh and his army NEVER RETURNED -- THEY PERISHED in the Place of the Whirlpool. Interestingly, the GULF OF AQABA is well known for its treacherous weather and its whirlpools!

The march of the pharaoh and his troops is related, on the el-Arish monolith, amidst the description of great upheaval in the pharaoh's palace and unusual occurrences that plunged the land into darkness. He arrived at a place CLEARLY designated by name: "His majesty -- [here words are missing] finds on this place called PI-KHAROTI."

A few lines later it is said that he was thrown by a great force. He was thrown by the whirlpool high in the air. HE DEPARTED TO HEAVEN. HE WAS NO LONGER ALIVE.

This Pi-Kharoti is none other than the Pi-Khiroth of the Bible; and the events of the el-Arish stone are DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PLAGUES OF GOD IN THE BOOK OF EXODUS, AND THE PURSUIT AND DEATH OF THE PHARAOH!

The inscription on the shrine reveals that AFTER A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME A SON OF THE PHARAOH -- "HIS MAJESTY GEB" -- set out in search of his father. "He asks information...." The eyewitnesses from neighboring areas "give him the information about all that happened to Ra in Yat Nebes, the combats of the king Thoum."

All those who accompanied the PRINCE in search of his father were killed by a terrible blast; and the prince, "HIS MAJESTY GEB," sustained burns be fore he returned from his expedition to seek his father, WHO HAD PERISHED. (Ages in Chaos, p.44).

Immediately thereafter, INVADERS approached by way of Yat Nebes and OVERPOWERED EGYPT. The stone relates:

The CHILDREN OF APOPI, the rebels that are at OUSHEROU [not identified, has a sign "DRY," meaning "DESERT"] and in the desert, they approached by way of Yat Nebes, and FELL UPON EGYPT at the fall of darkness. They conquered ONLY TO DESTROY [remember Manetho's account in Josephus]....These rebels, they came from the MOUNTAINS OF THE ORIENT by all the way of Yat Nebes.

The prince -- "HIS MAJESTY GEB" -- retreated before the invaders. He did not return to the royal residence in Heliopolis: "He did not go to ON with [or "like"] the companions of the THIEVES OF THE SCEPTER"; he was robbed of his heritage He secluded himself in the PROVINCIAL RESIDENCE of Hy-Taoui "in the land of the plants Henou." From in hiding the prince made an attempt, totally unsuccessful, to communicate with "the foreigners and THE AMU," that they leave the country. In his helplessness he recalled how his father, who SUCCUMBED IN THE WHIRLPOOL, in better days had battled all the rebels and "massacred the CHILDREN OF APOPI."

After a time, "the air cooled off, and the countries dried."

The monolith does not record what happened to the unhappy prince. His end was almost certainly sad. Velikovsky states that "Egypt was devastated by the tempest and scorched by fire. THE [ROYAL] RESIDENCE WAS SEIZED BY THE AMU."

There is a roll of papyrus in the British Museum that plainly shows WHO the "APOPI" of the el-Arish stone was:

It came to pass that the land of Kemi [Egypt] belonged to the enemies. And nobody was lord in the day when that happened. At that time there was in deed a king Ra-Sekenen, but he was only a Hak of the city of the South, but the enemies sat in the TOWN OF THE AMU, and APOPI WAS KING in the city of Avaris. And the whole world brought him its productions, also the North country did likewise with all the good things of Tameri. And the KING APOPI chose the god Set for his divine lord, and he did not serve any of the gods which were worshipped in the whole land. He built him a temple of glorious work, to last for ages [...And the king] APOPI [appointed] feasts [and] days to offer [the sacrifices] at every season to the god Sutekh --Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, by Dr. E. L. Lushington. Vol. lV, p.263.

This papyrus clearly shows the invaders of Egypt had a king by the name of "Apopi," and that his residence was in Avaris. The names of the great HYKSOS kings, which cover the more than life-size statue at Tell Mukhdan in Egypt, the border of the stand of the colossal Sphinx in the Louvre at Paris, the lion found near Baghdad, and the sacrificial stone in the Museum of Boulaq, are SCRATCHED OUT with great care, so as to be almost undistinguishable. Fortunately, the names of TWO HYKSOS KINGS are spared. These are:

1/. The king, whose first cartouche contains the name Ra-aa-qenen, and whose second cartouche encloses the FAMILY NAME APOPI, OR APOPA.

2/. King Nubti, or Nub, with the official name Set-aa-pe-huti (properly, "Set the powerful"

The name of the first mentioned king, which would have been pronounced in the Memphian dialect of Egypt "Aphophi," differs little from that of the Shepherd king Aphobis (or Aphophis, Apophis, Apopi), who, according to the Egyptian historian Manetho, was the fourth king of the HYKSOS to rule over Egypt.

The Bible throws further illumination on this Hyksos king of Egypt. Just before Balaam made his pronouncement about Amalek in Numbers 24:20, he blessed the children of Israel saying:

He [Israel] shall pour water from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters. HIS [ISRAEL'S] KING SHALL BE HIGHER THAN AGAG [AGOG], and his kingdom shall be exalted. -- Numbers 24:7.

The Amalekites were at that time "the first of the nations," and the highest degree of power was ex pressed by comparison with the power of this nation.

In I Samuel 15:7 we find further mention of a king Agag: "And Saul attacked the AMALEKITES, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took AGAG KING OF THE AMALEKITES alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword."

Obviously, this CANNOT be the same Agag as in Numbers due to the great span of time between the two; however, this is resolved by checking the Hyksos king-lists. We have already seen that the fourth king of the Hyksos to rule over Egypt was Apopi I. The king-lists also show that the LAST KING of the Hyksos to rule over Egypt was named Apopi -- Apopi II?

Immanuel Velikovsky, in is erudite work, shows that Apopi I and II were the SAME kings as AGAG I and II!

In the history of Egypt the most frequently mentioned name of the Hyksos kings is Apop [Apopi]. One of the FIRST and most prominent of the Hyksos rulers was Apop; the LAST king of the Hyksos was also Apop. The early Hebrew written signs as they are preserved on the STELE OF MESHA show a striking resemblance BETWEEN THE LETTERS G (GIMEL) AND P (PEI). NO OTHER LETTERS are so much alike in shape as these: each is an oblique line connected to a shorter, more oblique line, and is similar to the written number 7, THE SIZE. OF THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE TWO OBLIQUE LINES CONSTITUTES THE ONLY DIFFERENCE.

Nevertheless, it seems that not the Hebrew reading but rather the EGYPTIAN MUST BE CORRECTED....Almost EVERY hieroglyphic consonant [Egyptian] stands for MORE THAN ONE SOUND, and only empirically are all the sounds symbolized by a consonant found.

AGOG I appears to be APOP I, and AGOG II, APOP II. King Agog reigned at the BEGINNING of the period; according to Manetho, Apop [Apopi] was the fourth king of the Hyksos Dynasty and ruled for sixty-one years. Agog II reigned at the very END of the period, some four hundred years later. Ages in Chaos, pps.71-72.

With this understanding, we clearly see -- once again -- that the Hyksos and the Amalekites were the one and the same people!

When the site of ancient Avaris was excavated by Dr. Manfred Bietak of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, he found, in the north-west part of the site, the foundations of a TEMPLE with massive mud-brick walls, in front of which were numerous stumps of ancient palm trees -- the remains of perhaps the largest SACRED GROVE ever found in an excavation. "As revealed by the hieroglyphic inscription on a lintel found with in this temple's ruins, it was DEDICATED TO 'SETH [SET], great of might.' And it was one of the Anastasi papyri in the British Museum which described the city of Pi-Ramesses, 'Great of Victories,' as having had just such a temple of Seth in its southern quarter, precisely the location of the Tell el-Dab'a temple in relation to the rest of the region's Ramessid remains...."

But what is also quite obvious from Dr. Bietak's findings is that not only was this site the true Biblical Ramesses, it quite evidently had a history MUCH EARLIER than the time of Ramesses II as well, and was in fact NONE OTHER THAN THE HYKSOS CAPITAL, AVARIS, REFERRED TO IN MANETHO'S HISTORY. Dr. Bietak's findings of a temple of Seth correspond perfectly to a major temple of Seth, "THE PRIME GOD OF THE HYKSOS," known from the above-mentioned papyrus in the British Museum! (The Exodus Enigma, by Ian Wilson. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. 1985. P.52).

From the time of Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty, there comes an inscription in which is written:

The abode of the Mistress of Qes was fallen in ruin, the earth has swallowed her beautiful sanctuary and children played over her temple....I cleared and rebuilt it anew....I restored that' which was in ruins, and I completed that which was left unfinished. FOR THERE HAD BEEN AMU IN THE MIDST OF THE DELTA AND IN HAUAR (AVARIS), AND THE FOREIGN HORDES OF THEIR NUMBER had destroyed the ancient works; they REIGNED ignorant of the god Ra. -- A History of Egypt: During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Dynasties, by W. M. Flinders Petrie. 7th ed., London, 1924. Vol. II, p. 19.

There is a papyrus text preserved in the Ermitage in Leningrad (#1116b recto) which is a literary reflection of the days when the empire of Egypt collapsed and the nation fell prey to INVADING NOMADS. The unusual thing about this text is that the events are related in the form of a prophecy of times to come:

The land is utterly perished and nought remains. Perished is this land....THE SUN IS VEILED and shines not in the sight of men [ninth plague]. None can live when the sun is veiled by clouds....The river is dry (even the river) of Egypt. The South Wind shall blow against the North Wind. The earth is fallen into misery...BEDOUINS PERVADE THE LAND. For foes are in the EAST [side of sunrising] and AMU SHALL DESCEND INTO EGYPT. New Literary Works from Ancient Egypt, by A. H. Gardiner. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1(1914), pps. 100-6.

Following this graphic picture of the plagues that fell upon the land of Egypt, along with the invasion of the country by the AMU, the sage Neferrohu prophesied the liberation of Egypt by a pharaoh who would be born of a Nubian woman and called Ameny -- "the AMU shall fall by his sword." Thereafter "there shall be (re)built the 'Wall of the Prince' so as not to allow the AMU to go down into Egypt [again]."

On both the el-Arish stone and the papyrus in the British Museum, the CHILDREN OF APOPI, or the invaders of Egypt, are equated with the AMU. Who were the Amu? Were they the same people as the Hyksos or Amalekites?

Author Immanuel Velikovsky supplies the answer. He states that "the conclusion is inescapable that the AMU of the Egyptian sources and the AMALEKITES of the Hebrew and Arab sources were NOT two different peoples, but ONE AND THE SAME NATION. Even the name is the same: AMU, also OMAYA, a frequent name among the AMALEKITES, was a SYNONYM for Amalekite. Dshauhan (Djauhari), an Arabian lexicographer of the tenth century of the present era, wrote: 'It is handed down that this name [AMU, or OMAYA] WAS A DESIGNATION FOR AMALEKITE MAN.'

The Amu, or the HYKSOS, WERE THE AMALEKITES." (Ages in Chaos, p.94).

Even though the Israelites suffered much under the oppression of the 12th Dynasty, they bore no hatred towards the Egyptians in later years. The AMALEKITES ALONE became the symbol of evil and the object of their hate. Even today a Jewish mother frightens her child into obedience by referring to an "Amalekite."

The Israelites were not alone in their hatred of this people. For almost 500 years the Amalekites or Hyksos ruled the Egyptians with extreme cruelty, and the memory of their deeds was cut deep into the Egyptian consciousness.

This rude people of Arabia burned rolls of papyrus and objects of art; in their camps and fortresses they tortured their captives cracking open heads, smashing teeth and gouging out eyes.

Even the ARABIAN AUTHORS wrote about the evil and the wantonness of the Amalekites in dealing with the holy and the profane in Mecca itself and in Egypt. These authors made it very clear that the ETERNAL GOD had sent them AWAY FROM MECCA BECAUSE OF THEIR INIQUITY!

Unfortunately, over the years, the Egyptian historians began to identify the Israelites that had been in their midst WITH THE HATED HYKSOS that had been driven out of the city of Avaris (Ramesses). Velikovsky reveals what happened:

Ahmose [Aahmes first ruler of the 18th Dynasty] wrote that when Auaris [Avaris] was taken. the Hyksos re treated to Sharuhen, in southern Palestine. But Manetho, many centuries later, wrote that the Hyksos retreated into Palestine and BUILT JERUSALEM; also that at a later date, when a leper colony in Auaris revolted, these rebels summoned the Solymites (the people of Jerusalem) and together conquered Egypt; that these Solymites were extremely cruel to the population, and that one of the lepers, Osarsiph, CHANGED HIS NAME TO MOSES.

This confused story reflects the ASSYRIAN CONQUEST OF EGYPT, when Sennacherib and Esarhaddon invaded Palestine and Egypt "with a great host of Assyrians and ARABS." The people of Jerusalem NEVER conquered Egypt .-- Ages in Chaos, pps. 95-96.

Whenever the deeds and memory of the cruel shepherd conquerors of Egypt were revived, the Jews were IDENTIFIED WITH THE DESCENDANTS OF THE HYKSOS -- the hatred of whom found a target in the descendants of those who were oppressed in Egypt. Started by Manetho, an EXTENSIVE Jew-baiting literature followed; and the stories of Manetho were told and retold and added to by many writers.

This Egyptian historian saw in the Jews the miserable seed of cruel tyrants, and as a result the Greek and Roman authors perpetuated the never ending necessity to hate the Jews. Insinuations were heaped upon insinuations, and monstrous tales invented about the head of an ass which the Jews kept in their temple and worshipped, and about the human blood they sucked.

Balaam's curse on the Amalekites BECAME A CURSE ON THE ISRAELITES -- the descendants of Judah in particular. In Deuteronomy 25 we read the following:

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear flanks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, THAT YOU WILL BLOT OUT THE REMEMBRANCE OF AMALEK FROM UNDER HEAVEN. -- Verses 17-19.

Earlier, in Exodus 17:14, after the Israelites fought the Amalekites at Rephidim, Moses recorded: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this for a MEMORIAL in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I WILL UTTERLY BLOT OUT THE REMEMBRANCE OF AMALEK FROM UNDER HEAVEN."'

How very accurate this prophecy turned out to be! By the time of Manetho the truth about the origins of the Hyksos was BLOTTED OUT; and no one knew any longer that the Amalekites of the Bible were the Hyksos of Egypt. Even Josephus did not understand the truth. In his work Against Apion he did not even try to cast any doubt on the identification of the Jews with the Hyksos; instead he agreed with it and even defended it -- his reason for doing so being his wish to establish the antiquity of the Jewish people with the help of Manetho's stories.

The Jews endured much suffering from this gross distortion of history. They have -- and still are -- bearing their pain for being MISIDENTIFED with the hated Hyksos. It is ironic that the persecution started with the misstatements of Manetho the Egyptian, whose bleeding nation was freed from the rule of the Hyksos with the aid of the armies of King Saul of Israel, who fought side-by-side with Pharaoh Aahmes of the 18th Dynasty!

We have come the full circle. The Amalekites left Arabia after being devastated by the same plagues that struck Egypt. After their defeat at the hands of the escaping Israelites, they streamed across the Sinai to Egypt where they met little or no opposition due to the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Gulf of Aqaba. Once entrenched in their new domain they became known as the Hyksos or Amu of the Egyptian inscriptions.

They ruled the conquered land in such a barbarous fashion that they were COMPLETELY IGNORED in the Egyptian king lists at Abydos. This huge gap in the testimony of the Egyptian monuments is explained by the fact that the succeeding native Egyptian dynasty diligently set about obliterating every remembrance of the hated Amalekite foreigners who had ravaged the country for so long.

For almost 500 years the land was plunged into a sudden darkness that seemed all the more impenetrable because of the glorious heights the 12th Dynasty of Egypt had achieved through the brilliance and labor of the Israelites.

Modern historians, how ever, because of chronologies that are 500 years out of sync with that of ancient Israel, fail to connect the Hyksos with the Amalekites of the Bible. Innumerable theories come and go as historians grope about in their own "darkness" -- a situation that need never have occurred if only the Bible was accepted as a historical book, and the traditions of the nations of the Middle East were accepted as having a basis in truth.